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It's hard to believe that, after doing so many "Favorite Cookbook" themes over the years, I haven't done one based on my all-time, number-one favorite cookbook - the 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking. This is the book that taught me how to make stock, bake bread, roast chicken, broil fish, braise meat, bake cookies, preserve fruit... in fact, almost everything I know about cooking can be found in this single book. In addition to its almost 5,000 recipes, it contains thorough discussions on all types of foods and cooking methods, extensive conversion charts and substitution tables, and complete instructions for everything from freezing and canning to smoking and drying foods. Julia Child cited it as the book she would have if she could only have one cookbook, and I keep it on the shelf next to my computer (right next to my dictionary) and use it for reference almost daily. Although there is a more recent edition, this is the one cookbook that no kitchen is complete without.

Click here to buy the 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking from Amazon.com

My old dog-eared 1960 edition of Larousse Gastronomique is one of the books I refer to most often in doing research for your favorite recipezine, but despite its seemingly limitless supply of information and recipes, it has become a bit dated. I was delighted to learn that a new edition was published recently, so I snapped it up. As with all prior editions, this one is really more of a food encyclopedia than a cookbook, even though it contains over 3,500 recipes. Organized alphabetically from Abaisse to Zuppa Inglese, it covers every aspect of food and cooking with entries for ingredients, techniques, wines, famous chefs, and the countries and food regions of the world. I especially appreciate its broader geographic scope because, although the earlier edition has served me well over the years, its focus was primarily French and of little help with food matters from the rest of the world. The editors have corrected that myopia and the new Larousse Gastronomique is truly the one book no serious food lover should be without.

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The Best Recipe is a recent addition to my cookbook library, but it instantly became one of my all-time favorites. What sets it apart from other cookbooks is the exhaustive testing and re-testing the authors have gone through in order to find the best methods for preparing just about everything under the sun. Here's what Amazon.com says about it:

Who in their right mind would test 70 gumbo recipes to find the very best one? Or 40 versions of the peanut butter cookie? Or 80 chocolate chip cookie recipes? The short answer is Christopher Kimball and the dedicated staff he has assembled at Cook's Illustrated magazine.

The routine goes like: this pick a favorite dish that everyone in the U.S. either wants to cook or will someday cook--something like macaroni and cheese--then crank up the espresso machine. Feel the shiver. Focus. Then research all pertinent recipes, cook and taste and cook and taste, take notes, compile data, winnow data, then settle on one master recipe from which all other variants shall spring. Publish same. It has been going on like this for nearly 20 years, and as a result, any home cook can feel assured that, given the Cook's Illustrated recipe at hand, the turkey currently in the oven will come to the table a magnificent beast begging to be carved and served and savored. And there's a lot to be said for that.

Click here to buy The Best Recipe from Amazon.com

Click here to buy The Best Recipe: Soups & Stews from Amazon.com

While How to Cook Everything might not live up to its title in the literal sense (no recipes for roast camel), it is an excellent source of more than 1,500 recipes with the emphasis on simplicity. In addition to the recipes, the massive 900-page book is also an encyclopedic source of information on cooking techniques and ingredients, and I recommend it for beginning as well as experienced cooks.

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If we had to decide the turning point in American tastes in food from the standard "meat and potatoes" to more eclectic fare, my nomination would be the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1961. This is the book that launched the revolution in the way Americans think about food, published in a time when things like Roquefort cheese, Belgian endive, and cheese soufflés were considered exotic, and people thought that authentic French cooking was the exclusive domain of master chefs in expensive restaurants. Ironically,  we will probably never fully appreciate the profound impact Julia Child and her co-authors had on the way people eat in this country because it all seems so natural today, so please remind yourself that if this book had never been published, we might still be a nation subsisting on nothing more exciting than mushy meatloaf and over-cooked vegetables.

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My introduction to Marcella Hazan came in the late '70s when I bought The Classic Italian Cookbook. It immediately became a favorite and is still one of the cookbooks I refer to most often. I can't tell you exactly when it was originally published because the dog I owned back then ate the first few pages, but it still sits on my bookshelf, tooth marks and all. Here is what Amazon.com has to say about her latest masterpiece Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking:

Perhaps more than any other person, Marcella Hazan is responsible for bringing Italian cuisine into the homes of American cooks. We're not talking spaghetti and meatballs here - Hazan's cuisine consists of polenta, risotto, squid braised with tomatoes and white wine, sautéed Swiss chard with olive oil and garlic... Twenty years ago, when Hazan first exploded into the American consciousness with "The Classic Italian Cook Book" and "More Classic Italian Cooking," such recipes were revolutionary. With time, however, these classic dishes have become much-beloved family favorites.

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Back in the seventies many Americans were still eating much the way they had eaten for decades, with diets based largely on canned, processed, and "convenience" foods. Then along came "New American
Cooking" with its emphasis on locally grown fresh ingredients, and championed by future stars of the American food scene like Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters. When it was published in 1979, The Silver Palate Cookbook was one of the first cookbooks to translate this new thinking into recipes for the home cook. In it Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins share over 350 of the recipes that made their New York City restaurant and catering service a success, and more than two decades and several printings later, "The Silver Palate Cookbook" still has what it takes to retain its place as a classic American cookbook.

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This book is actually as much a reference work as a cookbook. Don't get me wrong, it's loaded with recipes (over 500 of them), but it is also an encyclopedic reference describing, defining, and illustrating over 350 vegetables, both common and exotic. As the title suggests, it deals with vegetables (including a wide range of mushrooms) in alphabetical order beginning with amaranth and ending with zucchini, and including everything in between.  This is a great book if you are looking for original and creative treatments of supermarket standards such as carrots, spinach, cauliflower, and artichokes, but its inclusion of such unusual items as banana blossom, breadfruit, chickweed, tetragonia, and taro makes it an invaluable addition to the food lover's library.

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Here's what the New York Times had to say about The New Making of a Cook: "Kamman has written her book for the budding professional or the serious amateur who wants to achieve pre-professional expertise. She covers non-glamorous fundamentals like pots and pans, the chemistry of basic ingredients and the fine points of the cooking techniques that chefs must master... If you can tough it out, you emerge with a new store of knowledge and a firm command of the basics... Kamman's tome stands as a monolith, issuing a challenge to every cook with ambition, determination and the biceps to lift it off the shelf."

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In my mind, no cookbook collection is complete without the 1931 edition of The Joy of Cooking. This edition, in spite of dozens of revisions and updates, remains a classic collection of recipes and techniques with the emphasis on simplicity and practicality, and I turn to it frequently for inspiration when I am looking for uncomplicated but refined dishes of understated elegance.

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James Beard began his cooking career catering cocktail parties in New York City, and his first book was titled Hors d'Oeuvres and Canapés, so I refer to him often when I am looking for an interesting recipe for Monday's edition of your favorite recipezine. As with every book Mr. Beard wrote, American Cookery is as packed with kitchen wisdom as it is with recipes (over 1,500).

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This was the first cookbook featured in my "Favorite Cookbooks" theme. Among the many things I like about All Around the World Cookbook are its eclectic selection of recipes from six continents, and Ms. Lukins' simplified versions that make them accessible to home cooks everywhere. The book is also a wealth of information, with side bars on subjects such as "The Wines of Russia," "The Beers of South America," and "The Turkish Palate." It is one of the few truly international cookbooks on the market today.

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Anna Del Conte's Gastronomy of Italy is a comprehensive companion to every aspect of the cooking of cucina Italiana. Regional specialties are justly celebrated, from the garlic-based cuisine of Piedmont, through the four types of rice grown in Lombardy, the Panata (bread soup) of Emilia-Romagna, the olive oils of Tuscany, the truffles and wild fungi growing on the Apennine slopes of Marche, the lamb dishes created in the shepherding communities of Abruzzo, the abundance of vegetables from the fertile soils of Puglia, the robust seafood of Campania, the chili-flavored salami of Calabria, to the Arabian legacy of Sicily's sweet dolci.

In addition to the recipes, the index of ingredients identifies over 700 key ingredients and dishes from Abbacchio (baby lamb) to Zuppa (soup). This section is followed by a glossary of more than 130 definitions or terms, techniques, utensils and cooking methods to help the reader negotiate commonly found phrases in Italian recipes, menus and delicatessens. A survey of Italian wines completes the book. Superbly illustrated with historical paintings, early frescos, mosaics, antique prints and stunning photography, "Gastronomy of Italy" is an essential cook's companion which will remain not only a source of reference and inspiration but also a friend for life.

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Whenever I am looking for an authentic regional Mexican recipe, The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking is the book I turn to. Aficionados of the Tex-Mex style of Mexican cooking will be surprised at the variety of dishes found in this large and diverse country. Combining Spanish, Aztec, Arabic, and even French influences, the cooking of Mexico is truly one of a kind, and this book describes it better than any other.

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When I first opened The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, my first reaction was that it is an excellent cookbook for the beginning cook, and while I still think this is true, I became convinced that it is also an invaluable resource for more experienced cooks as well. With over 1,400 recipes, even experienced cooks will find much that is new and interesting here. In addition to hundreds of innovative and original recipes, it also contains tried and true classics from all over the world. The editors at Good Housekeeping know that a picture is worth a thousand words, and they prove it beyond a doubt in this book. While many of the illustrations are not needed by the experienced cook, beginning cooks will especially benefit from the thousands of illustrations accompanying the recipes. Even more expert cooks will appreciate the illustrated instructions for techniques such as cutting up poultry, cleaning shellfish, and decorating cakes, and a full-color photograph of every recipe in the book makes it one of the most mouth-watering, hunger-inducing cookbooks I have ever read - do not try to read this book on an empty stomach.

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I have to admit that when I bought The American Heart Association Low-Fat and Low-Cholesterol Cookbook: Heart-Healthy, Easy-to-Make Recipes that Taste Great, I was expecting the same bland, dull, and uninteresting recipes found in most low-fat cookbooks, but I was pleasantly surprised. The recipes in this book represent a wide range of regional and ethnic dishes, and I hope it comes as no surprise to my readers that these types of foods appeal to me. Instead of the typical flavorless poached chicken breasts found in many low-fat cookbooks, this one contains such dishes as chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta and goat cheese, Thai chicken and basil with vegetables, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Tandoori Cornish hens, and a turkey and vegetable calzone - and that's just the chapter on poultry. All the other chapters are packed with tasty low-fat and low-cholesterol versions of traditional dishes from all over the world, as well as many for more standard American fare. In addition to the recipes, the book also contains a wealth of information on heart-healthy cooking, food, and diet, as you would expect from the world's most respected authorities on heart disease. Introductory chapters discuss the role of fat and cholesterol in heart disease, and numerous appendices cover topics such as "Shopping the Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Way," "How Your Body Handles Cholesterol," and "Tips for Dining Out." This book should be on the shelf of every cook who is concerned about heart disease and healthy cooking in general.

Click here to buy The American Heart Association Low-Fat and Low-Cholesterol Cookbook from Amazon.com